Bug danger at state's hospitals

VICTORIAN hospitals are more dangerous for some types of surgery
than those in the US and Germany, according to a report on hospital
bugs.

The State Government report also found that thousands of nurses
and doctors were failing to get flu vaccinations - which is against
Federal Government guidelines - and potentially putting patients at
risk.

The Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance project is a yearly
snapshot of infection rates in areas where patients are
particularly vulnerable: intensive care and surgery. The report, to
be released today, is the project's third and is yet to detect a
clear trend on whether infections are going up or down.

This year's report included a study of 126 patients who
contracted infections after a hip or knee replacement. Those
patients, who stayed in hospital longer and required more care,
cost the state an extra $5 million, or $40,000 each.

Five per cent of these patients died and, on average, they
stayed an extra 27 days. One patient was in hospital for an extra
five months.

"It is hard to prevent every one of those infections but there
are things that can be done to make that rate as low as possible,"
said Dr Mike Richards, director of the project co-ordinating
centre.

It is estimated that hospital infections cost Australian
taxpayers up to $40 million a year.
The report also found:

· An unacceptable lack of compliance with guidelines for
the choice and timing of antibiotics to protect patients undergoing
surgery.

· Only 30 per cent of doctors and 36 per cent of nurses
were vaccinated against the flu last year.

In some areas, Victoria was behind international best practice,
said Dr Richards.

He said that compared with surveillance programs in the US and
Germany, some infection rates appeared higher in Victoria, although
different practices, such as length of hospital stay, might account
for some disparities.

Hospitals are not compelled to provide information to the
surveillance project, which is one of its shortcomings.

The report also does not identify hospitals or reveal the levels
of superbugs such as MRSA (golden staph).

Nor does it report overall deaths from infections or minor bugs
that may be picked up in hospitals.

Next year some infection data from individual hospitals may be
published.

Tony McBride, chief executive of the Health Issues Centre, said:
"Not all hospitals have an environment of open disclosure where
they can bring up these issues. Some hospitals are doing it really
well in Victoria, and others are not really engaging in it."